Why are we so fascinated by sharks?

If you’re worried you’ll become a shark’s next meal when you go to the beach, experts say a dose of perspective can help put you at ease.

“The greater danger from wildlife is if you hit a deer on the way to the beach or have an anaphylactic reaction to being stung by a bee or wasp,” said New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse.

Although the chances of being bitten by a shark are extremely remote, the ocean predators remain the object of fear and fascination.

In many works of fiction and popular media, sharks are often portrayed as indiscriminate hunters, aggressively devouring anything and everything in sight. The Peter Benchley novel “Jaws,” which was adapted into a blockbuster film directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, is widely credited with inspiring a wave of shark mania in the 1970s and ‘80s.

That fascination with the marine predators later gave rise to pop-culture phenomena including the Discovery Channel’s annual “Shark Week,” and the campy series of “Sharknado” films (the fifth installment airs Sunday).

“In terms of actual shark behavior, those are very far from the truth, but it tapped into something I think is at the root of most people’s initial interest and fascination with sharks,” said shark researcher Nick Whitney, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium. “It is the danger aspect, and they do bite humans on occasion, sometimes fatally, but very rarely.”

Fear of a large predator, he said, is ingrained in the human psyche.

“This is one of the last remaining predators you’re likely to encounter that does have potential to bite and potentially consume you,” he said.

That potential, though, is unlikely.

In 2016, there were four documented fatal shark attacks worldwide, according to the International Shark Attack File. There have been an average of 16 shark attacks in the United States each year since 1900, with a fatality about every two years. The last time a person died from a U.S. shark attack was 2012, and it’s been more than 80 years since a shark killed a person in Massachusetts.

Each year, more people are killed by fireworks, lightning, train crashes, the flu and bike accidents than by sharks, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

“That primal fear we have hardwired into us around any large predator is so dramatically exaggerated, that we sometimes forget more consistent dangers,” New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse said.

Sharks have gotten increased attention in Massachusetts in recent years as researchers have tagged increasing numbers of them in coastal waters, particularly off Cape Cod. Scientists say the increased shark activity may be the result of booming seal populations associated with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Last year, aerial spotters recorded 147 sharks in Massachusetts waters, slightly more than the number recorded in 2015, and nearly double the number recorded the previous year.

Shark researcher Craig O’Connell, a graduate of Boston University and UMass Dartmouth, grew up watching Discovery’s annual “Shark Week.” He’s now an on-air host for the weeklong series of shark-themed programs and documentaries.

“It was always a week in summer I looked forward to,” he said. “It’s because of that I really got fascinated with sharks. I knew I’d turn on the TV and see something incredible I didn’t know existed.”

O’Connell, who founded the nonprofit O’Seas Conservation Foundation, said his first encounter with a Caribbean reef shark in the wild made him view the animals differently. The predator swam by him, appearing to cautiously eye him as it passed.

“I think one of the major misconceptions is that sharks are violent man-eating killing machines,” O’Connell said. “They’re perfectly dialed-in predators, they’re intelligent and they have their own personalities. It’s not until you actually see these sharks in their own environment that you see what they truly are: relatively calm animals until they start hunting. They’re beautiful animals, and we need to protect them. They play such an important role in our oceans.”

For Whitney, his fascination with sharks began at a young age.

“I grew up in southern central Michigan and was absolutely terrified of sharks as a kid. I had seen Jaws, so the only thing I knew about sharks was when you went into the ocean, sharks would eat you.”

On family vacations to the ocean, he would stay on the beach while his family swam and played in the waves.

“I wanted to go into the ocean and wanted to learn about them to see if I could find secrets to avoid being eaten,” he recalled.

Whitney read everything he could about sharks, and developed a deep interest.

“I just found them fascinating,” he said.

Today, he spends much of his time tracking sharks at sea, observing their behavior and fitting them with accelerometers – motion-sensing devices similar to those found in FitBits and smart phones. The devices provide researchers with data about sharks’ behavior and biometrics.

Sharks, he said, are intelligent hunters that generally feed on their preferred prey, making it rare for the predators to go after humans. Many shark attacks, he said, occur in murky water where the animals’ visibility is reduced.

He recommends viewing sharks with respect and a healthy dose of caution. Some common sense advice, he said, includes staying away from baitfish and seals, which sharks often feed on, and not swimming near anyone fishing. If you see a group of seagulls feeding together, he recommends staying away, because that likely means there’s a school of baitfish nearby.

If a shark has been sighted, it is best to stay out of the water until it’s been determined that the animal has left the area.

In recent years, cultural attitudes have begun to shift on sharks, LaCasse said. Rather than viewing them with paranoia, many people now view them as an important part of the marine ecosystem.

Whitney said sharks have swum in the waters off virtually every beach in the world for thousands of years, often without incident. In many cases, beachgoers aren’t even aware of their presence.

“The reality is that at the vast majority of beaches, certainly along the East Coast of the United States, there are sharks around while people are swimming, and this happens every day,” he said. “There are usually no incidents between sharks and humans. Sharks are good at recognizing what their normal prey species are.”